The Raging Shadows
by SHAWNCALHOUN
Summary: This story involves many Mario characters, but especially shows a grown up side of the koopalings. Is there hope? Is there light? Nobody knows...
1. A double takeover

Recently, Bowser had left his castle for a vacation, and his castle was left wide open…

Ludwig Von Koopa had taken the castle, along with his army. His army was made with large groups of koopatrol, hammer bros, chain chomps, and Boos.

"Ha! Perfect timing! Bowser is not here, and neither are his men. The kingdom is now ours." Ludwig walked towards the throne at the end of the hall. Just as he almost sat on the throne…

"Ouch! Who shot a spell at me?!?" Ludwig was hit with a spell blast. He looked around, then stared at the door. It was wide open.

A Shadow walked through, coming closer. "Hello, I believe you are upon my property."

"This was Bowser's castle! I took it, It belongs to me and my faithful warriors." Ludwig gloated.

A sudden flash occurred, and four shadows were standing in four corners, surrounding Ludwig's minions. The shadows had electricity running through their bodies.

"Limelight!" the original Shadow yelled. Suddenly, the four clones turned into blinding lights, and everything between the four clones was in a bright light. Ludwig opened his eyes, and saw the light fading. Where all his minions once stood, had nothing but ashes scattered on the ground.

"What did you do to them?!?" Ludwig was enraged.

"You do not know magic very well, do you? Limelight. Level 100 technique. Four people sacrifice themselves, and split to four corners. They create a large beam of lightning that destroys everything in between the four. However, one with plenty of magic, can sacrifice mere mana clones." the Shadow explained, and walked closer to the lights in the hall.

When the Shadow stepped into the light, it was revealed. Iggy koopa, the koopaling Ludwig used to bully five to six years ago. Iggy who looked weak and pathetic, looked threatening now.

A Dark blue wizard cap. A robe hanging from his neck to the ground, covering his feet. The sleeves were long, and his hands barely came out. A long black cape was blowing in the wind, an eerie red eye painted on it. The rod in his hand had an ominous aura emanating from it. Iggy's glasses were the same, but instead of the usual gloomy look in his eyes, Iggy's eyes were sinister looking. His green eyes were now red, and his once healthy teeth were sharp and covered in blood.

"You can't be Iggy! You…what are you?!?" Ludwig backed away from the approaching figure.

The figure laughed at Ludwig. "I guess I was wrong. I thought you were tough. I thought you were the same Ludwig that beat me to near death every day, also stealing my research notes, my life's work. All I see is a whimpering little chicken."

Ludwig got up, and pulled out what appeared to be a staff. "Shut up! Do not talk to me like that! I am not afraid of you!"

The fight begun. Ludwig swung the staff at Iggy multiple times, but Iggy dodged every attack. Ludwig tried to leap onto Iggy, but when he almost landed, Iggy shot him with a fireball. Ludwig used his fists, punching rapidly, but a barrier protected Iggy.

"What is wrong? Can't break through? I barely put up any efforts in conjuring this." Iggy mocked.

"Stop making fun of me!" Ludwig punched and punched, but his fists began to bleed, like as if he was punching an iron wall.

"Tired? Then it is my turn." Iggy laughed as Ludwig stared at his bloody hands.

Iggy knocked Ludwig up with his magic rod, and jumped above Ludwig. When Ludwig was about to fall back down, Iggy knocked Ludwig back with the rod, and teleported to the other side. Iggy hit Ludwig, teleported, and struck again, multiple times. When Ludwig got back in control of his body, Iggy slammed him in the head, sending him down towards the earth.

"Such a pathetic brother…" Iggy glared at Ludwig, who was badly beaten.

"Why…did you…do…this?" Ludwig had to catch his breath after every word.

"Thank you."

"What?" Ludwig was shocked.

"If you had never bullied me, tormented me, I would have never felt this. For the first time, when Bowser banished me, I felt not sorrow, I felt anger. I felt hatred. Like my soul would not vanish until Bowser was dead. You made me feel anger. You made me swear vengeance. You turned me into a powerful koopa."

"What…are you…going…to do…now?" Ludwig asked.

"I am very thankful that you made me this way. You made me strong. You are my brother. Unfortunately, as of now, you hold no more purpose for me. I don't need you alive any more. Do not fear, I shall be a great king."

Ludwig's eyes grew big. The rod that Iggy had transformed its bottom part into a sharp spike. Iggy lowered the rod, above Ludwig's head.

"_I haven't lived my life! So many symphonies…so many friends…my girlfriend…I can't die…not here!"_


	2. A dreaded letter

Squish!

Iggy koopa had killed Ludwig, and laughed maniacally. The dark, demented Iggy koopa walked out of bower's castle.

Meanwhile…

In the mushroom kingdom, Mario and Luigi were playing a card game. "Mario! This is not entertaining at all!" Luigi complained.

"Fine. But we are not going to princess Peach's castle. Every time you mentioned that, we went, Bowser appeared, and I got stuck in colossal adventures." Mario was staring at his cards.

"Bowser hasn't showed his face in a while…Maybe we should practice? Have a friendly fight?" Luigi asked.

"Luigi, go fish is technically a friendly battle. A battle of card gaming." Mario yawned.

"Mario! Luigi! Check the mailbox!" Parakarry's voice called from outside.

The two brothers went outside, and looked in the mailbox. A letter was inside, from Bowser's castle. Mario started to read it.

"Dear Mario bros,

I will declare war upon the mushroom kingdom. My army has become tenfold in power. If you want to stop the war, meet me at shooting star summit. I shall call off the attack, if one of you accepts death. Consider it the price for your troubles to the koopa kingdom. If either of you do not show up within twenty-four hours, We shall attack. Enjoy your last hours, as only one of you will survive.

From your most feared foe,

Anonymous"

"Mario! What's wrong?" Luigi asked, and started sweating.

"The letter is written in blood…Bowser is serious." Mario whispered.

"What do we do?" Luigi was biting his fingernails.

"You will act like nothing has happened. I am going to finish Bowser, once and for all." Mario's face was filled with anger.

Mario headed to the shooting star summit, only to see something else…


	3. The fateful showdown

Mario stood, staring at none other than Iggy koopa. Iggy grinned, and was about to talk, but…

"Ha, ha, ha! Iggy koopa?!? Ha! I'm going to die of laughter! You are that koopa, ha, that didn't even fight! When I entered, you jumped out the window, scared! Ha, ha, ha! I can barely breathe! Is this your plot?!? Make me laugh to death?"

Mario's laughing was quickly interrupted. Iggy shot a fireball at Mario, and the busily laughing Mario was burnt.

"Another chuckle would have killed you." Iggy's voice was menacing.

"Wait…you have no army!" Mario complained.

"I am the army." Iggy snarled.

"_Giggle, snort, giggle" Mario was trying not to laugh._

_Suddenly, a thousand Iggy koopas surrounded Mario._

"_Ready to die, Maria?" Iggy said._

"_It's Mario! Mari-o!" Mario was yelling._

"_I know. I just heard that O'chunks guy call you Maria once. I thought it was rather funny." Iggy let loose a single chuckle as he talked._

"_Okay, we fight!" Mario yelled, and started punching the Iggy koopas._

_Mario knocked many out with punches, kicks, and the occasional fireball. However, Mario was also fairly damaged. Along with his burn from earlier, he received many scratches, and he was knocked onto a cactus. He landed on his…shall we say, trunk. Mario continued destroying the clones, and then there was only one._

"_Very impressive, Mario. I had thought you would have been killed." Iggy laughed._

_Mario did not speak, but jumped back, and charged a fireball in his hand. Mario leapt towards Iggy, and smashed the fireball into Iggy's chest. But, Mario had noticed the koopa was actually a rock. Iggy knocked him down from behind._

"_Did you think for a single moment that I would not attempt to dodge, or even foresee that attack?" Iggy was growling._

"_Fine. You win…just don't attack the mushroom kingdom…please…" Mario pleaded._

"_Oh! Now you beg, only now! After I beat you, when you are inches from death? I thought you were more courageous. I won't kill you." Iggy growled, as he used a healing spell on Mario._

"_Why did you heal me?" Mario asked._

_Iggy lowered his hat. "You aren't my target. Someone else is…"_

_Iggy vanished, and Mario just stood there, in shock._

"_Someone else? Is he planning to make me suffer a fate worse than death? Is he going to fight Luigi? Princess Peach? Toadsworth or Toadette?" Mario was deep in thought. Suddenly, something grabbed his shoulder._

"_Whoah! Waaaaah!"_


	4. Mario & toad in: a bad fortune day

Mario was dragged to the fortune house, nearby the shooting star summit. He was dropped into a chair, and across from him, was Merlee.

"What is going one?!?" Mario panicked.

"Calm down. You need not worry, Mario." Merlee was in meditation as she said this.

"Okay. You took me here to tell me something important, right? What is happening, and why is Iggy powerful? Who is he targeting?" each question came out of Mario's mouth faster than the last.

Merlee slapped him, and spoke in a calm, but serious voice. "What is happening, is simple. Iggy koopa is filled with anger, to the point that he cannot bottle it in. he is like a time bomb. Who knows how long before someone dies…"

"What?!?" Mario jumped.

"Do not fear…he is most likely targeting Bowser. Bowser had banished him, and called him a disgrace. Iggy probably plans upon slaying Bowser." Merlee spoke.

"Well, that seems to be a win-win situation. Either Bowser dies so Peach doesn't get kidnapped, or Iggy dies, and we'll have a problem less." Mario was smiling, and felt relief. Luigi and Peach were safe.

"Fool! After he finishes Bowser, who do you think he will target next?" Merlee was yelling at Mario. This was bad. Merlee was always calm, until now.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a toad came in.

"Philly? What is the problem? Why exactly are you panicking? …did you sneak into the girl's changing room again?" Merlee gave the toad a glare.

"Bowser's castle! It is crazy! Ashes everywhere! A few dead chain chomp bodies found! Blood on floor! Eek!" toad was running around like a crazy person on ultra shroom coffee (now only $6,000.99!).

Merlee was in shock. For minutes, she didn't speak. She finally spoke after a half hour. "I knew time was short…but this I hadn't predicted."

"What do we do then?" Mario asked Merlee.

"What do you think?!? Find princess Peach! Warn her of the coming dangers! Evacuate the mushroom kingdom!" when Merlee finished speaking, she went upstairs, and brought down a suitcase. "Good luck!" Merlee ran out the door to who knows where.

Mario and toad ran to Peach's castle. He knocked on the front door, and was stopped.

Toadsworth was standing inside. "Welcome, Mario! How is your day? Do you want to have some hot tea? Or possibly a nice game of checkers?" Toadsworth talked way too much.

"I need to see princess Peach!" Mario was shaking his arms, making Toadsworth understand it was important.

"Okay! I'll go get her!" Toadsworth walked up the stairs, and entered a door, and brought princess Peach back with him.

"Mario? You seem troubled. Is something the matter?" Peach asked.

Mario was trying to think of how to explain. The toad spoke immediately. "The mushroom kingdom is in danger! A huge fight scene happened at Bowser's castle at some point. I saw ashes, dead chain chomps, blood, and so I went to Merlee. Mario was talking to Merlee, and Merlee said we are in danger! She told us to tell you to evacuate the kingdom! And she ran up to her room, got a suitcase, and ran away!" toad said this all in one breath.

"Is this an excuse to distract me from writing you a ticket for you peeking in the girl's changing room for the tenth time?" Peach also glared at the toad.

"It is true! What he said is true! We have to evacuate! Merlee became angry, and then became scared! I asked her what I was supposed to do, and she yelled, and when toad reported Bowser's castle, she was silent for thirty minutes! She's always calm! Even when Bowser stole the star rod! Even when Dimentio almost destroyed all worlds!" Mario was trying to talk calmly (and failed).

"Okay, I will do it! Peach, flee now." Toadsworth commanded her.

"But Toadsworth!" Peach was worried.

"Go!" Toadsworth was running to the announcement room.

Mario and Peach gathered Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, yoshi, and Toadette, and left the mushroom kingdom.

"What will happen to them? Where is Iggy? Is there any chance of defeating Iggy? Find out next time!"

…I thought you already fled, Merlee. And I do the narrating.


	5. Reflecting upon one's past

Iggy was cruising to the Beanbean kingdom in a space ship, thinking about the past.

Iggy Koopa's past---four years old

"Get back here! Bullies!" Iggy yelled.

"Pass it to me, Roy!" Morton was flailing his arms up.

Roy threw Iggy's shell to Roy, and Roy kept it out of Iggy's reach.

Ludwig walked in, and punched Roy in the gut. "Pick on someone your own size, idiot."

Ludwig gave Iggy back his shell.

"Thank you Ludwig!" Iggy smiled.

"You annoy me. That is the last time I will retrieve your shell." Ludwig said.

"But what if they-" Iggy was interrupted.

"It is not my fault you were born weak. And it is not my concern, either." Ludwig walked away while talking.

Iggy was depressed. He spent many days and nights crying.

Back to present

"Heh. Too bad I didn't discover this power before, I could have taught them a lesson. And who can define power? I wasn't weak, I just wasn't a fighter." Iggy grumbled.

Iggy koopa's past---eight years old

"Alright, children. Open up your Koopa history books. And Roy, at least stop drooling on it." Mr. Hookbill said, still facing the chalkboard.

Iggy was at his first day of school. When he opened the koopa's history book, he was fascinated. Not much else happened at the school, except Hookbill, still facing the chalkboard, gave Morton a time out for putting bubble gum under his table.

The moment Iggy got home, he rushed to his room, and read every book he had. Koopa science, koopa history, koopa biology, and a single fiction book: Koopenstein's monster.

All day and all night, Iggy read the books, and made notes. In just a couple of days, he started making a robot. When it was finally complete, he let himself sleep.

But in the morning, his notes were ripped up, his robot smashed to pieces, and his shell stolen…again…

Iggy stayed in his room all day, crying. His hard work was ruined. Bowser came in, and talked to Iggy.

"Son, you have locked yourself in your room for quite some time. Is something the matter?"

"I made a lot of notes, and built a robot, and when I fell asleep, Roy and Morton came in and destroyed my work." Iggy was just looking down, no emotion on his face.

"Son, let me tell you something. When I was a child, I was small, just like you. I had two brothers to compete with for the throne. I was beat up every day, but when the crowning took place? The two had conquered two lands. I was given the crown, for making an alliance with the goomba and bob-omb kingdoms." Bowser said.

"Really? But…why?" Iggy asked.

"Uhhh…yes, it did happen. The two made enemies that attacked our kingdom repeatedly. I made friends for our kingdom in case we needed help. What I'm saying is, it's not the muscles, it is whether you help the kingdom to survive and prosper."

Back to the present

"I worked hard…I could have built something to help us! And Bowser was just making stupid lies. He had no brothers. He never made friends with bobombs or goombas! He enslaved them!" Iggy was thinking about his father more.

Iggy koopa's past---six years ago

"Alright, children! I am giving you an important task! Each of you will have a fortress! Feel free to customize it! An evil plumber is on his way. His name is Mario. He has caused a lot of chaos! The fortresses block his path to my castle. Whichever son or daughter can kill this evil man shall be crowned the next king!" Bowser was pacing back and forth as he spoke.

Every koopaling was excited. Even little Iggy koopa.

Despite his inability to fight, he was able to build numerous traps. But Mario had survived every one unscathed, and reached Iggy's room. "You! Stop this madness now!" Mario yelled.

Iggy koopa backed away, and looked outside the window he bumped into. A large lake was beneath it. Iggy jumped out, and landed safely.

Iggy returned to his father, and Bowser was raging. "You failed?!? Unforgivable! You are a disgrace to the koopa kingdom! You shall be banished, until you are strong enough to fight Mario! Until then, as far as I'm concerned, you are not my son…"

Back to the present:

"Like I said, all lies. Bowser has no care. I have almost reached the Beanbean kingdom. I should find that item here…"


	6. Survivor of it all

Mario, Luigi, Peach, and the others ran to an uncharted territory. It was actually goomba village, but Iggy never knew of this place. They entered, and asked if they could stay a while.

Goompapa was somewhat stressed. "Erm, Yeah, it's okay. But we have a visitor here, crazy haired koopa, about ye tall, and has a scar on his forehead. The scar looks pretty recently made, too. The guy is lucky, if the wound was just two inches to the right, he would have been killed." Goompapa was trying to explain.

"Can I see him?" asked Mario.

"Sure! He is in the toad inn!" Goompapa said.

Mario looked inside, and sure enough, it was none other than Ludwig Von Koopa. He was in bed, one eye open, and an ice pack over his forehead. A doctor was standing over him, searching for other wounds.

"Oh! Hello, Mario! Sorry, but the bed is occupied for Mr. Ludwig. He took a lot of nasty blows." the doctor said.

"It's okay…they're my…friends…" Ludwig grunted.

"What?!?" Mario was surprised yet again.

The toad doctor left.

"Mario, huh? Come here to finish me off? Go ahead…I lived my life…" Ludwig grumbled.

"No. I want to know why Bowser's castle, and not to mention, you are in a wreck?" Mario asked.

"Ha, ha…I don't…want…to talk…about it…unless…it helps…you to…stop him…" Ludwig was breathing heavily.

"Don't overwork yourself. Just tell me when you are ready. Me and the gang are hiding out here for a while." Mario was concerned for Ludwig's health.

Ludwig laid back down. "It's…okay…Bowser left…his castle…for a vacation…me and my troops…snuck…in…we took…over…his castle…I got…attacked by…Iggy…he used…a spell…to…turn my…friends…into ashes…I fought him…But he overpowered…me…I didn't…even land…a single…blow…he knocked…me down…stabbed me in the head…I woke up…here…" Ludwig took deeper breathes, and told Mario to stay.

"Listen right quick…Iggy…he is a kind…koopa…he must be…possessed…please…don't…kill…him…it's all…my fault…I made…him angry…made fun of…him…If Toadette…is here…don't tell…her…anything…about Iggy…please…" Ludwig closed his eye, and breathed hard again. He was unconscious. Mario ran outside.

"Mario! What are we going to do?" Luigi asked, running around.

"We have to find him, and defeat him." Mario said.

"Why does this concern us?" Wario asked.

Mario got close to Wario and whispered to keep Toadette from hearing. "Iggy is in a severe rage. If he kills Bowser…he will become insane…and kill everyone…including you, and your brother."

"Grr! Fine! So, me, you Luigi, and my bro are going to fight a super powered wizard freak? No one else?" Wario was shaking slightly.

"yoshi will help too. And I am sure many others are willing to help." Mario said, and he walked into the goomba house.

He looked for Goombario. "Goombario? Do you want to go on another adventure with me?"

Goombario walked out of his bedroom. "M-Mario…I'm sorry…I can't help…it's too dangerous…"

"It's okay. I understand." Mario left the house.

Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and yoshi traveled out of the village. The time was now. The fate of the mushroom kingdom was in their hands.


	7. Stars and lava riddles

"And so, now that Twink has come of age, he shall take my place as a star spirit…Thank you, all…" Eldstar pronounced in front of several stars.

Twink flew up to the stage, and thanked Eldstar. In a sudden surprise, Luigi jumped up to the star hall.

"Luigi?!? What is the matter?" Eldstar asked, in a shocked voice.

Mario jumped into star hall next. "Eldstar! This is an emergency!"

"An emergency? My, my…" Eldstar was somewhat concerned about the emergency.

"Bowser's son, Iggy koopa is planning on destroying everything! We need the star rod to defeat him!"

Eldstar grabbed a piece of paper and gave it to Mario. "We have the star rod, but its powers are gone. Whoever stole its power left this."

The paper was read:

"Your enchanted light is missing, but it is not gone,

But if you listen, it will be obtained not long.

The lava is mean, and clue 2 is hot,

So if you want it, give the volcano a shot!"

Mario, Luigi, and Waluigi tried to think about what this meant.

"Lava and volcano…Lava-lava mountain, lethal lava land, mount coronet, all three have lava and a volcano. There must be a way to narrow it down!" Mario complained.

"It is rather strange that they used the word mean to describe lava. Bullies are mean. and jerks." Waluigi sighed.

"Mario! He's on to something!" Luigi cheered.

"Lethal lava land has lava everywhere…flames jump over bridges, there are those monsters called bullies, and there is a volcano you can climb inside. You have to be right! Waluigi, was that a lucky guess?" Mario asked.

"Ahem! Who do you think built the Wario bike? Who made the sinister plans? I may not look like it, but I can solve all sorts of riddles. Every word has its own meaning, and you two overlooked that word too many times." Waluigi was still just laying around as he said this.

Mario and Luigi just stared at him, impressed and shocked.

"Wah ha ha! What are you three waiting for? We have got a volcano to raid!" Wario was revving his Wario bike, signaling them to get on. They got to lethal lava land, and the volcano was standing, taller than ever.

"What is that?!? It was not that big is super Wario ds!" Wario gasped.

"It's called super Mario ds, you idiot! You were an optional character! Yoshi and Mario were the only two required to beat Bowser!" Waluigi yelled.

"Why are you yelling at him?" Mario asked.

"No duh! I work at the factories that make those games! We are almost done with our new game, Wario ware D.I.Y.! I consider those games my art! You do not just go in to an art museum and call the Mona Lisa painting the Maria Leaky painting!" Waluigi was ranting on and on.

Mario, Luigi, Wario, and yoshi all jumped in the volcano, ready to find the second clue.

"And now you know why pronunciations are important!…Wario? Mario? Anybody?!?"

The four searched through the volcano, and Wario found the clue under a giant boulder.

"You are clever, after all. Unless you guessed out of luck,

This test will give you the power and on your shoes, lots of muck!

Two arrows lead out. One leads an area back. Only one arrow leads forward to them,

But be careful of the purple monster with a shining gem!"

"Waluigi will have to help us again…" Wario groaned. The three wondered at first why he groaned, and then they saw him carrying a large sack filled with money he took from the volcano.

They got outside, and Waluigi was gone. In the place he stood earlier, was a letter laying on the ground.

"Waluigi is probably mad that we left, and wrote a letter to us." Wario sighed.

"It's from Rougeport! And it has an ominous symbol on it…" Mario gasped.

"What's the matter? Going to read it or what?" Wario asked.

"This letter is written with someone's blood. Iggy may have attacked someone else…" Mario said.


End file.
